


we'd always end up here

by sorrow_key



Category: Realm of the Elderlings - Robin Hobb
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bittersweet, Gen, M/M, Other, Pre-Slash, Sappiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:09:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28493652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sorrow_key/pseuds/sorrow_key
Summary: Fitz supposes he shouldn't be surprised when six years after the end of the Red Ships War, a familiar face shows up at his doorstep. He should be even less surprised when the Fool leaves again.
Relationships: FitzChivalry Farseer/The Fool
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21
Collections: Winterfest - Rote Gift Exchange☆





	we'd always end up here

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sttchr](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sttchr/gifts).



> Unfortunately, your original gifter had to drop out, but i hope you enjoy the fic!

The Fool comes back to me almost six years after the war ended.

I stare at him, wide-eyed, the doorknob slack in my hand. I'm not used to visitors, even though I've been living here for a while now, long enough to make a livable home, get my first chicken and start the beginnings of a garden. People rarely find us here and I prefer it that way.

His hair is darkened, but his clothes are still the practical, ordinary things he'd used on our journey. The material is good and his hair and face are well-kept in a way that enhances the effects of his bright eyes. I am glad for him. He still wears my earring. Or rather, I hope it's mine - its shape is covered by an intricate wooden shell.

I also worry, for I haven't heard a horse. I'd been resting, just for a bit, the day's tasks done with for the time and Nighteyes drowsing in a sunny spot. Nighteyes didn't warn me either, I note, torn between grumpiness and concern. He's grown older, yes, but not so much that he should not hear someone approaching, even someone as light-footed as the Fool. But then I see him stare up at the Fool beside me, an unmistakable smug feeling to him.

_You knew he was coming?_

Nighteyes snorted. _Of course I did. He is the Scentless one, not the Soundless one._

 _And you didn't tell me?_ I sent out a note of plaintiveness, but it's vastly overpowered by my wonder. He's come back for me.

 _But he was doing such a good job sneaking up on you, little brother._ Nighteyes shows me his teeth. _The Scentless one is learning to hunt better._

"Hello," is the first thing the Fool tells me, his shoulders hunched in a self-conscious manner that is most unlike him, in a voice much unlike his own. "I don't suppose you have the space to put up an unfortunate traveler for a night? Trese Dunham is on his way to a different minstrel to take him on as an apprentice, but the poor sap doesn't have the money or the skills to pay for a room at an inn. However, he would be very willing to help out in your house for a night or two of hospitality."

It's strange how you can stop speaking a language for years, but once someone speaks it to you, you reply by instinct. That is very much how I feel at the time; removed from my self and following those old rules without even a thought.

"Tom Badgerlock is a recluse trying to build up a small farm by himself and would greatly appreciate the help." My tone turns more intimate, despite myself and I narrowly avoid saying his name. "You are welcome to stay as long as you like."

"Thank you," says the Fool and his tired smile is so genuinely _him_ that it's all I can do not to hold him and press him close, as I let him enter. Nighteyes is on him immediately without a care for the pretenses of humans. I take a moment to envy him, close the door and without a word, I enfold him. He hugs me back, long fingers rubbing over my back in a way that reminds me of safety and comfort. A knot forms deep in my stomach and loosens, leaving me almost boneless. I hadn't known if I would ever see him again and I couldn't find it in myself to be at all sorry to be found by him.

"Hello, Fool," I playfully whisper into his neck and feel his chest vibrate as he laughs.

"Ah, but a Fool I've stayed, just for you!" he returns, shaking his head, "For I am a Fool to come here."

I retreat from him, holding him at arm's length. "Is there anything you need?" My insides buzz. I am finished with the business of kings and destiny, I have been finished with it for a long time now. But I don't know if I'll be able to deny him. There's very little I would deny the Fool.

 _Pack helps pack,_ Nighteyes adds decisively. It worries me. He isn't as young as he used to be and even then, he almost lost his life more than once. Nighteyes growls at me, as he tends to do when I think like this. _I'm still a better hunter than you, little brother._

"No." The Fool shakes his head and laughs a little, shrill and sad. "But that is why it's foolish for me to visit you. Don't you see, Fitz? There's nothing I need from either of you right now, except for your company."

His words fill a space within me that I never knew was there. The Fool has never just needed my company - everything we were was always tied to some grander design that puppeteered us both. "You have it," I tell him, moved beyond words. "Whenever you want it, you have it."

Nighteyes settles in between us, wantonly daring the Fool to scratch his ears, which he immediately obliges. _How many times do I have to say it? Pack is there for pack. Tell the Scentless One he can stay. I'm giving him permission. The chicken is still another matter._

I roll my eyes. _The chicken is here to stay. You like the eggs? You keep the chicken. But,_ I flounder, trying to keep our Bond communication quiet. My feelings can barely be contained. _Thank you for accepting him, even after all this time. Thank you._ And I mean more than our conversation. I mean his decision to stay and share his life with me, his willingness to take part in the human side of my life even if it barred him from the life of most wolves.

Nighteyes projects the sensation of eye rolling through our bond. Which I translate to: we've had this conversation before and I don't want to have it again. Do what I said, little brother. I figure that that's fair. The Fool is looking between me and Nighteyes, his face scrounged up like he's trying to hear something far away.

"Nighteyes agrees," I tell him. "He invited you to stay for good." I try not to sound too interested when I ask him, "Will you?"

The Fool's smiling face falls as soon as I've said the words. He clasps my arm, still crouching beside Nighteyes with a hand in his fur. Despite the gloves, it makes our connection more physical. My heart beats faster and in that moment, I feel complete. "I'm sorry, Fitz. I'm sorry, Nighteyes. That too, is why I was foolish to come. I can't stay. Even coming at all risks bringing everything you've outrun back with you and I don't want to, I can't take your peace away. And I- I have another journey, another place I must go, to guide changes into their right tracks. I can't stay with you."

Of course. He'd said that he's only staying the night. "It's fine," I say, though it pains me. If his concern was just us, I could tell him we'd rather take the risk to have him here. That it would be his absence that would take my peace away. But I have as little chance of getting in between him and the destiny he chases as I have of making time turn backwards.

"So we have until tomorrow?"

The Fool's answering smile is guilty and relieved. It pokes a hole into my chest."Maybe one or two days more. It wouldn't be too strange for Trese to stay and rest a bit more. He's not the fastest fellow."

"Why, then he must be of much annoyance," I say, dragging him with me to the stool and chair that I've acquired and built, respectively. "For the Fool I know was always a fast walker."

"Ah, that's nothing!" The Fool waves. "You can get used to anything. Now, would you care to hear Trese's least popular songs yet?"

I return his smile. I do not know what he did in Buckkeep and I do not know where he's headed. But for the moment, just having him here is enough. The itch that draws me into the distance of Skill has receded and I live the moment as fully as if I were hunting with Nighteyes. I hadn't even noticed when life started feeling so distant to me. And so, I quite honestly answer, "There's nothing I'd rather do."


End file.
